News Foundation Adaptation Series Officially Ordered by Apple

[thribs]

“This episode contains a depiction of suicide”

Well thanks for the spoiler Apple.
Roxann Dawson directed this episode which is cool. The navigator stuff on the ship reminded me reminded me of the Skywalker’s from the Thrawn novels. If she also has those “Jedi” powers, she probably could have taken that ship back to Terminus.

 

[FPAlpha]

So is Gaal to become The Mule ( or at least the show's version of it)?

Seems to me like it based on Hari's remark that Gaal has the potential to destroy Psychohistory and that she's now probably out of the picture for more than 100 years, which would fit somehow in the overal timeline of events.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

“This episode contains a depiction of suicide”

Not really suicide though - more giving up the ghost.

If she also has those “Jedi” powers, she probably could have taken that ship back to Terminus.

I recommend you don't read the synopsis for next week if you don't want to be spoiled. Humans integrating themselves physically with starships didn't originate with the SWEU, of course.

This series continues to diverge even farther from Asimov's novels. It's enjoyable enough in its own way for the most part but it really is its own thing now. This week I was mostly annoyed by the Gaal and ersatz Hari interaction.

 

[Brobdingnag]

So the second foundation has not even begun? What the...

So Star's End is Helicon now? I mean in the books it has been hypothesized that it was Kalgan, Terminus, Tazenda and finally we discover that it was Trantor but... Helicon?

I wonder if these writers ever read the original story? Did they?

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

There's adaptation and then there's adaptation. I just wonder how people who haven't read the books are finding it.

 

[Brobdingnag]

There's adaptation and then there's adaptation. I just wonder how people who haven't read the books are finding it.

Yeah, I really wonder where they're going with the Emperor. I mean there's the really really rough pilgrimage where we see him as a thoughtful human being but then he does something so awful that he makes the 11 000 year old robot cry and we say "wow he's so cruel" and then the robot implies that he must have "no soul" (robots are so religious you know) because he didn't have any vision (robots are also good guessers). So which is he? Whatever... Will there be a sack of Trantor in that version? I am starting to wonder...

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Yeah, I really wonder where they're going with the Emperor. I mean there's the really really rough pilgrimage where we see him as a thoughtful human being but then he does something so awful that he makes the 11 000 year old robot cry and we say "wow he's so cruel" and then the robot implies that he must have "no soul" (robots are so religious you know) because he didn't have any vision (robots are also good guessers). So which is he? Whatever... Will there be a sack of Trantor in that version? I am starting to wonder...

Apparently, the first Seldon crisis will come to a head next week. This will presumably resolve the Terminus situation. I'm not sure how the Thespin ships appeared so quickly this week when they don't have the superfast form of FTL. I'll just assume they conveniently happened to be in the region. The simmering uneasy relationship between Brothers Dawn and Brother Dusk will also likely come to the boil - possibly violently. I imagine Brother Day realising he's more of a soulless robot than the actual robot might make him more bitter, twisted and prone to acting irrationally.

A cult of godhead worship hasn't developed around the Empire Brothers over time as was prevalent in ancient Earth civilisations. Early Roman emperors expected to be worshipped and this didn't play at all well with adherents of monotheistic religions that forbade worship of false gods. This show hasn't gone down that road but the religious tensions depicted are still interesting, although I suspect the underlying description in the series bible is paper-thin.

 

[David cgc]

So is Gaal to become The Mule ( or at least the show's version of it)?

Seems to me like it based on Hari's remark that Gaal has the potential to destroy Psychohistory and that she's now probably out of the picture for more than 100 years, which would fit somehow in the overal timeline of events.

My money is on Brother Dawn.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Which may be why Cleon I started the Genetic Dynasty, because he's sterile.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

My money is on Brother Dawn.

Unless he has a cryo pod, it’s way too early for that. And the show is already setting up for the time jump to get to Hober Mallow.

 

[Brobdingnag]

Unless he has a cryo pod, it’s way too early for that. And the show is already setting up for the time jump to get to Hober Mallow.

Or a future clone that's not even born yet after the "dynasty" has been deposed.

 

[Brobdingnag]

Which may be why Cleon I started the Genetic Dynasty, because he's sterile.

Then he could have tried binary cloning, that's pretty much the same as regular reproduction except that there are even more possibilities, like binary cloning two males or two females for example.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

Which may be why Cleon I started the Genetic Dynasty, because he's sterile.

I doubt it Demerzel wouldn't have floated the idea of him just having kids as another option if that was the case.

 

[Starbreaker]

There's adaptation and then there's adaptation. I just wonder how people who haven't read the books are finding it.

I read Foundation twenty years ago and don't remember it. Loving the series so far. Adaptations aren't meant to be page for page translations.

 

[Brobdingnag]

I read Foundation twenty years ago and don't remember it. Loving the series so far. Adaptations aren't meant to be page for page translations.

True, but there's quite a difference between adapting and taking a few names from the books and telling a completely different story.

It's like telling the Battle of Waterloo with Napoleon a Brazilian fan dancer and Wellington a cocaine-addicted disc jockey from Belarus...

 

[Marc]

It's like telling the Battle of Waterloo with Napoleon a Brazilian fan dancer and Wellington a cocaine-addicted disc jockey from Belarus...

nah that's not an adaption.

That's based on a true story

 

[KennyB]

Never read the books. Enjoying it for the most part, only gripe is every week just when we get moving along……it’s over.

 

[Verteron]

I haven't read the books since I was a teenager, although they were very memorable so I recall most of the general story (and you can always remind yourself from Wikipedia articles).

Honestly I get that people are disappointed this isn't a stricter adaptation of Asimov's Foundation story. I really hoped it would be. But what we've got is a decent enough sci-fi series that has some interesting aspects to it. I'm not sure it's decent, good or great yet but at least it's new. Not just another Trek or Wars spin-off or reboot or retelling. Is it worthy of being called Foundation? Would Asimov have approved? I don't know. His own timeline was somewhat inconsistent and he did some retconning himself, so maybe he wouldn't have minded.

Definitely watchable for me so far. Looking forward to seeing the conclusion of S1 over the next few weeks, although I'm sure it will just set up new intrigue for S2 rather than provide complete resolution.

 

[Verteron]

Yeah, I really wonder where they're going with the Emperor. I mean there's the really really rough pilgrimage where we see him as a thoughtful human being but then he does something so awful that he makes the 11 000 year old robot cry and we say "wow he's so cruel" and then the robot implies that he must have "no soul"

I'm wondering how Demerzel ended up 'slaved' to the Cleons in the first place. She seems to predate the Genetic Dynasty by about 10,500 years or more.

Spoiler

In the novels, it's all a bluff and she's really pulling strings the whole time, but this seems unlikely given the scenes with Halima that weren't being watched by anyone, and seemed genuine

Perhaps in this timeline, the price for her survival was being 'slaved', and the alternative would have been deactivation.

 

[Brobdingnag]

....
Definitely watchable for me so far. Looking forward to seeing the conclusion of S1 over the next few weeks, although I'm sure it will just set up new intrigue for S2 rather than provide complete resolution.

I am very curious about what kind of resolution they will bring to the first crisis. I am pretty sure that it won't have much to do with how it was solved in the book given that a myriad of things are already way off the mark.